Indonesia has significantly improved its position in the Global Retail Development Index by leaping from 12th position in 2015 to a new high fifth position. China and India are still the countries with the most attractive retail business taking first and second, followed by Malaysia and Kazakhstan.

The consulting firm AT Kearney created the index in 2001 to measure the attractiveness of the retail sector in developing countries. It includes three main criteria namely population, country risk, and time pressure.

AT Kearney partner Hana Ben-Shabat said Indonesia’s recent policies of loosening barriers in the retail sector including e-commerce and foreign investment were regarded as positive to investors amid the negative growth average of 2.3 percent in the last three years.

"Local and international retailers are speeding up expansion plans," she said on Monday in Jakarta, citing Indomaret, which planned to open 1,600 stores after the 1,560 new stores last year and United Arab Emirates′ Lulu that would invest US$500 million over the next five years.

As market saturation would increase, Hana continued, existing retailers were experimenting to capture the niche market.

Matahari Putraprima has launched a premium supermarket Foodmart Primo in June 2015, while Transmart Carrefour has expanded to restaurants, retail chains and entertainment.

With the increasing usage and number of smartphones, retailers are boosting up their e-commerce. Happy Fresh has recently acquired $12 million to fund its e-commerce expansion, while Alfamart has rebranded its alfaonline.com into alfacart.com by including third-party products.

More recently, Korea and Japan-based retailer Lotte Group and Indonesia’s Salim Group have announced that they will create a joint-venture to develop an e-commerce and logistics system. Salim and Lotte would hold a 50-50 share of the platform.

"Now, Indonesians youngsters are paying less [physical] visit to retail shops. We need to catch on with this new trend," Salim Group chairman Anthoni Salim told thejakartapost.com on Friday.

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has stated that according to US News and World Report survey results, Indonesia was in the second place among the world`s two most attractive countries for investment destination.

President Joko Widodo expressed congratulations to mothers and women on the occasion of the International Women`s Day in front of the recipients of Smart Indonesia Card, Hope Family Program, and Social Rice (Rastra) assistance.

Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko received the visit of the American ambassador to Indonesia, Joseph R Donovan Jr, at his office in Jakarta on Monday, to discuss a number of bilateral cooperation, including joint military training.

The Kazakh government is interested to learn the Indonesian National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT)′s soft approaches to deal with terrorism, BNPT Chief Commissioner General Police Suhardi Alius said in a press statement released on Sunday.